AboutMesothelioma.Net

Omaha State Sen. Bob Krist’s father died of lung cancer related to asbestos exposure in 2004—less than two years after it was diagnosed. Like many asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma and asbestosis, the elder Krist’s symptoms appeared decades after exposure and his cancer was only diagnosed at an advanced stage. It was likely linked to his work as an electrician and service in the Navy.

To help Nebraska veterans have a better chance of surviving cancer, Sen. Krist is proposing that Nebraska spend about $650,000 for research on a non-invasive screening test using mucus from the respiratory tract that might provide an early warning of cancer.

About 500 older military veterans, age 50 or older who smoked at least a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, would participate in the study that would be conducted by the University of Nebraska Eppley Cancer Center, under Krist’s bill. The state’s $310 million health care fund, which received monies from the federal tobacco litigation settlement, would pay for the five-year study. Sen. Krist, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and veterans of Desert Shield and Dessert Storm, said he could think of no better reason to spend tobacco money than fighting cancer.

Lung cancer is curable when detected at an early stage, said Dr. Rudy Lackner of the Eppley Cancer Center. But only about 15 percent of lung cancers are detected at this stage because there isn’t an inexpensive detection tool.

Veterans are about 25 percent more likely to develop lung cancer, Lackner said. They are more likely to have been exposed to asbestos and other occupational risks and are more likely to have smoked.

People who have a history of asbestos exposure are at a higher risk of developing cancer if they also smoked. The Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs supports the legislation and would help find volunteers for the study. The research is part of a number of studies being done on a lung cancer screening tool being developed by Biomoda, Inc., a cancer diagnostics company based in New Mexico.

Read Krist’s legislation

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